Gibson Retires After 17 Seasons
American League
Darryl Hamilton hit a grand slam, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 Friday night after Kirk Gibson announced his retirement and headed home to his family in Michigan.
Gibson, who spent 12 of his 17 seasons with the Tigers and was the star of their 1984 World Series drive, said he was “being traded to my family.”
Gibson’s uniform hung in his locker at County Stadium. His teammates said he’d had enough of a sore shoulder, the team’s second-half slide and the trades of pitchers David Wells to Cincinnati and Mike Henneman to Detroit.
Gibson, 38, told Detroit manager Sparky Anderson and friend Alan Trammell of his decision Thursday night after a loss at Texas. He flew with the team to Milwaukee and left for his home Friday.
Gibson finished his 17-year career with a .268 average, 255 home runs and 870 RBIs.
Red Sox 5, Orioles 4, (12)
Boston
Pinch-runner Juan Bell stumbled home on Lee Tinsley’s 12th-inning double, and Boston extended its winning streak to nine games with a victory over Baltimore.
Indians 5, Yankees 4, 11
New York
Cleveland rallied for yet another comeback victory over New York, tying the game in the ninth and winning it in the 11th on Kenny Lofton’s RBI double. It was the Indians’ third straight comeback victory over the Yankees - all of them in two days.
Blue Jays 14, Rangers 5
Arlington, Texas
Rookie Ed Hurtado won his fourth game, and Ed Sprague had four RBIs as Toronto beat Texas to snap the Rangers’ three-game winning streak.
Angels 8, Twins 5
Minneapolis
Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds and Tim Salmon homered to lead California past Minnesota, the Angels’ 13th victory in their last 17 games.
White Sox 13, Athletics 5
Chicago
Alex Fernandez allowed just five hits in seven innings, and Chicago got homers from Tim Raines and Lyle Mouton to rout Oakland.
Clearing the bases
Oakland manager Tony La Russa, who has a provision in his contract that would allow him to leave at the end of the season, has been mentioned in speculative reports as a logical choice as Chicago manager if Terry Bevington is not retained… . Kansas City traded catcher Pat Borders to Houston, designated outfielder Vince Coleman for assignment and activated pitcher Kevin Appier from the disabled list in a series of moves involving 11 players. Borders was sent to the Astros for a player to be named. Borders, batting .231 with four home runs and 13 RBIs, signed as a free agent with the Royals in the off-season. Coleman and outfielder Chris James were designated for assignment, meaning the Royals have 10 days to either trade or release them. Coleman is batting .287 with 20 RBIs and 26 stolen bases.